Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Voices of: Nolan North, Emily Rose, Richard McGonagle, Claudia Black, Steve Valentine, Graham McTavish, Rene Auberjonois
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Directed by: Amy Hennig, Bruce Straley
Rating: T
Genre: Action-adventure
System: Playstation 3
2009

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Nathan Drake begin a deadly journey to find the Cintamani Stone and the hidden city of Shambhala.

Review:
Tim: After loving the original Uncharted, I was very excited to once again embark on an exciting adventure with my favorite video game treasure hunter. Naughty Dog ups the ante in nearly every way for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. This game keeps all the best parts of the original, tells a larger story, offers jaw-dropping action sequences, and overall, was immensely fun to play. This is a worthy sequel and all of a sudden, it puts this franchise on the map. To create one great game is a success, to create two becomes really, really exciting.

At this point, I was familiar with the character and the gameplay, so it was very easy to pick it up. The controls are mostly good, although yes, from time to time, I'd run around a ladder because I couldn't hit the right angle to climb up it, or I'd stupidly jump in a diagonal direction and die. Some of this was operator error, yes, but the controls at times were annoying. For the most part, though, they work. The game does a great job of shifting between platforming sequences where you're climbing and jumping, and gunfight levels where you're mowing down bad guys while trying to stay alive. The balance was quite strong here- the game rarely felt repetitive, because you're always shifting to the next sequence, often one that requires a different skillset or approach. I really enjoyed that aspect of the game.

The game does offer some big set pieces. The opening train sequence is excellent, starting with the unforgettable image of Drake hanging off the back of a train car, about to slide off a cliff. That was so fun. I seriously need to stress what an epic, unforgettable opener this was. The jumping, the tension you feel with the train perilously close to falling- it's a thrilling, brilliant way to start the game. The one weird thing about it is that the game forces you to replay it later in the game. Then, when I went back to collect the missed treasures, I had to play both those levels again. So, train sequence is amazing, but I had to play it 4 times! There are so many outstanding moments throughout the game. The museum heist really forces you to master stealth takedowns. The firefights in Borneo are incredibly exciting. The train sequences are excellent- it's so fun to battle people on top of or on the side of a moving train. The urban combat scenes in Nepal are really challenging- the game throws some very difficult sequences at you. You often fight bad guys covered in body armor, where you basically need to shoot their helmet off, and then deliver a headshot to bring them down. There's a ton of snipers, rocket launchers, and guys carrying machine guns. What Nathan Drake, Chloe, and Elena have to face in this game is truly crazy. It makes for a thoroughly compelling game, though! Fighting for your life really focuses the senses. There's a truly incredible jeep chase later in the game- I loved it so much, it just felt a bit too short. That's not a big complaint- time flies when you're having that much fun. The scenes in Shambhala are also intense, but I won't say much here- I always try to minimize spoilers. There's no shortage of great sequences throughout this game.

I do give Neil Druckmann and the other writers credit. Uncharted 2 isn't a great game just because it has fun action sequences to play. The narrative and the characters are just spectacular. I loved the dialogue between Nate, Chloe, and Elena. Each of these characters feel real, complex. They have depth. As you play, you really get a sense of who they are. It's easy to root for them, especially when they're going up against a megalomaniac war criminal. The voice acting in the game is fantastic. The whole game feels even more cinematic than the original- we get a lot of cut scenes that tell a wonderful story. That's really what makes this game special.

One note of how I played this game, specifically in regards to the treasures. Before I started, I reflected on how I played the original game. I started that and realized quickly that I missing a ton of treasures. I didn't feel like replaying levels in perpetuity, so I just used a guide as I progressed through the game to collect all 60 treasures. This game has 100 treasures (101 with the secret relic), and I realized that going to a guide continually was a distraction. I wanted to make sure I enjoyed and appreciated this game more. So, I played straight through, doing my best to find treasures without any guides. I finished my first playthrough of the game and I did manage to collect 54 treasures. That's not bad, given the challenging nature of some of them. Others, yes, I couldn't comprehend how I missed them. I was too caught up in the narrative. Because I was interested in seeing what I missed, I did replay all the needed levels, this time with a guide to collect all the treasures. I actually enjoyed this more than I thought. Some of the levels had been weeks and weeks since I first played them, so it was fun to experience them again. When I collected all the needed treasures, I'd save and quit the level, move onto the next one. This took me about 3-4 days to grab all the rest of the treasures. Some of them were in tough levels- not surprisingly, I missed a bunch in the tank attack sequence, or the myriad sniper bridge level, for example. I actually really enjoyed this approach and will adhere to it in future games. So, I did collect all 101 treasures, but did need help for almost half of them.

I beat the game on Normal. The online servers had been shut down before I started, so I never played any multiplayer. I probably wouldn't have, even if I could. The game tracks a ton of statistics, so I won't share them all. But, some of the ones that stood out to me- I defeated a total of 1,534 enemies. The longest streak I had without failing was 62. I failed or restarted 192 times. Quite a few of those were on replaying levels for treasures. I'm just glad I kept it under 200. I killed 1,071 people with guns. My hit ratio was 43.34%. Not great, but man, Nate faces waves of enemies in places and it's all you can sometimes to fire shots off and hope to survive. I hit 251 headshots. I took down 222 enemies in hand-to-hand combat, and 79 with stealth. I exploded 193 enemies, which was always so satisfying. My total playtime was 18:56:17. Some of the other stats are crazy, but I found it fascinating that I spent 41:03 in the air, or that I spent 2:54:59 in cover. Crazy stuff. I was far less interested in the Single-Player store, but since I had money, I bought 28/30 Skins, 18/21 Weapons, 3/3 Render Modes, 0/8 Bonus Movies, 2/8 Art Galleries, and 4/7 Tweaks. I did nothing with any of that, though.

To summarize, I absolutely loved Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It's a tremendous sequel, and it brings this franchise high up the rankings of my all-time favorite video game franchises. I love Nathan Drake and I had immense fun playing through this cinematic, challenging, thrilling game. I give so much credit to Naughty Dog for delivering one of the best video game experiences I've had. I'd absolutely consider this game a near-masterpiece. I need to take some time, but I can't wait to continue to play this franchise.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Tomb Raider, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Call of Duty: World at War